At the 2018 GENYOUth Gala, PepsiCo was honored with the 2018 Vanguard Award, given each year to the organization or individual whose commitment, passion, and support enable GENYOUth to empower students to be change agents for health, wellness, and academic achievement. Through PepsiCo's steadfast commitment to GENYOUth's initiatives, they have helped increase access to over 5 million school breakfast meals, allowed for the expansion of Fuel Up to Play 60, GENYOUth's flagship program, to be available in Spanish in over 73,000 schools, and provided FLAG football kits to engage over 27,000 students in physical activity during summer feeding programs.

As a part of the evening, PepsiCo announced new grants to GENYOUth totaling a million dollars for programs in 2019.